One thing that is supposed to work favourably for your new blog is to do brand reviews. So far it seems like the popular reviews are for tech gadgets, which would be fun but right now the only way I am getting tech products would be through some kind of sponsor a child or computers in homes program, so I will write about something else. At the end of the day, people must have to use other products right?
Since moving to Australia, we have established that this country is crawling with insects. Bright colours, weird shapes, reptiles, amphibians, arachnid (shudder) - they are all here and multiplying. And that would be fine on its own, but they also love to come into the house at night.
Even though I'm pretty jumpy, I can manage most of them. But I absolutely draw the line at cockroaches. Those things are disgusting, indestructible and fast, and they spread disease. They also make my skin crawl. So in order to stay sane, I sought out some firepower.
On any given evening we will have a variety of insect repellent solutions in play - incense, roll-on repellent, sprays, netting and so on. But cockroaches really take a bit of extra ammunition.
Five words: Mortein Easy Reach Surface Spray.
This stuff is absolutely lethal. When the shop assistant said you could spray it on the ground and it would work for months, I was sceptical. But it really works. Well. While I do not recommend breathing it in at all, but it does have a pleasant citrus aroma.
Mortein Easy Reach Surface Spray gets 4 out of 5 hi-fives (one less than 5 because it is a bit toxic). Let the cockroach eradication continue!
More cockroach tips here.
There is so much media focus on the recession right now, that job hunting is an incredibly daunting task. It can be very disheartening, overly stressful and cause you to second guess every decision you make.
This is compounded by the fact that the job hunt is fraught with enemies - overloaded recruitment agency employees who can't keep up with their workload; hundreds of candidates vying for the same job; managers and bosses who realise they have an abundance of choices and so take their sweet time.
Each day on the hunt is like an emotional rollercoaster. You scan the advertisements and see a job that you like, and you feel hopeful and optimistic. You apply, taking care to match your cover letter to the requirements of the advertiser, and you feel a small sense of achievement. You check your email, receiving a letter to say that your application has been unsuccessful, and you feel a sense of failure. Your interview times get moved around. You get nervous before interviews, anxious waiting to hear from potential employers, and excited about the prospect of having an inflow of dollars. All the while, you are still unemployed and whittling away valuable cash in the process.
The cycle goes around and around, each day making incremental improvements - research leads to advertisements, advertisements lead to applications, applications turn to interviews, interviews turn to offers. But after 4 weeks and still no job, one can certainly begin to feel that there is no hope of ever being employed.
Today, after yet another day on the 'recession rollercoaster', I began to feel that sense of trying to achieve the unachievable. It only takes the tiniest catalyst, like a bad purchase decision, and all of a sudden that positive outlook you’ve maintained throughout comes crashing down and you want to find the nearest large rock and hide under it until Cyclone Recession blows over.
I started to panic. How will I pay the bills? How will I eat? Oh no, I'm going to have to work in a strip club. Maybe it's not so bad. Maybe they are really friendly and I can earn mega-bucks for serving overpriced cocktails to middle aged men.
I google get rich quick schemes. I peruse 'wealth creation' sites, and consider referring them to a professional web designer. I actually contemplate selling out to some 'home-based' business with a domain name like www.alltheriches4uwithoutworkingitsamazing.com. And all of this only leaves me with an increased sense of overcoming the impossible. How do I fix it?!
Many people are found in this situation, now more than ever, asking themselves the question – is there a better way? Well, apparently there is. The recession is creating a phenomenon coined as ‘forced entrepreneurship’ – where job candidates frustrated with the hunt are producing new ways to support themselves, usually through new business. It is essentially a ‘no time like the present’ approach, which could bring some great new business concepts out of the woodwork as shelved inventions make their way back to the fore.
So this begs the question... Could I become a forced entrepreneur? I have begun the hunt for inspiration – I have had articles from Steve Pavlina earmarked for a long time to return to; I’m reading a great book on developing your own ‘Impact Factor’; I’m following a series of successful and interesting people for ideas. My first step is learning to create content which adds value, something I find enjoyable and hopefully others will too.
Whether it is easier than job hunting remains to be seen, but it is a welcome distraction.
So with that in mind, and a lot of time on my hands as the job hunt continues, I now embark on a mission to find my true calling and ultimately create value for others. Stay tuned!
Twitter has totally become the talk of the town at the moment, so I thought I would clear the dust off my old account and start tweeting!
You can follow me at http://twitter.com/emmarclarke
Send me your link, I am looking for more people to follow ^_^
Cyclone Hamish is tracking south east, parallel with the Queensland coast, and authorities are now predicting there is only a 5% chance it will make landfall. It currently lies 225kms off the coast from Yapoon.
In other news, a local radio station in the Ipswich area, River 94.9, managed to get their hands on two tickets to Coldplay in Brisbane tonight. The competition closed today - prior entrants were required to text their name and suburb to the radio station whenever a Coldplay song was played. This morning when the hosts phoned the winner, it was Mum's phone that rang.
Radio host: We're drawing the Coldplay tickets now
Mum (to trainee at work): Oh I entered this yesterday
Radio host: Now we're calling them
Phone rings in Mums pocket
Mum: O thats my phone!
Radio host: (post formalities and hysterical acceptance speech from Mum) So do you have a date for the show?!
Cheeky.
Luckily, that date is me! Coldplay - tonight at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. Viva la Vida!
Queensland is currently bracing for a possible cyclonic event as Tropical Cyclone Hamish is building offshore in Northern Australia. Fraser Island has been evacuated, with the only access in and out along the beach. Tourists are not impressed that their holidays are being cut short, but the category 4 cyclone is no small storm, and most storm surge areas are taking no risks.
Hamish has downgraded from a category 5 overnight, when it escalated so quickly it caught even the met service by surprise. In its current state, if Hamish makes landfall it will have similar effects to Katrina, with the storm surge anticipated to cause the most damage.
Winds are currently being clocked at around 260km per hour, and residents in the storm surge areas are on constant alert for an evacuation notice.
We track the weather using the Bureau of Meterology radar: Track Hamish here
More as it comes to hand, fingers crossed it doesn't make landfall.
It's only 29 degrees today which feels like a welcome relief. The heat is definitely, well, hot - but its the humidity that is the real killer. We spent Tuesday night at a friends house in Brisbane, and without air conditioning or even a fan it was a stretch to sleep. Thank heavens for the pool.
The job hunt continues - we are applying like crazy people and after 2 weeks of solid searching, we are starting to see some results. Hopefully now we can turn those leads in to solid job prospects and ultimately cash!
We haven't had much chance for site-seeing so far, with a sharp restriction on the budget it has consisted mainly of trying to spot koalas and kangaroos alongside the freeway. We have seen a kangaroo so far - unfortunately it had also seen the front of a vehicle at pace.
News flash for the day - possums are a protected species here. Shudder. I would strongly suggest we ship a whole bunch of them from NZ over to here, and that should solve both countries' issues.
I have new contact details, feel free to get in touch!
So far the 'working holiday' has been mostly holiday... but the time intensive task of securing a job will begin seriously on Monday. Job hunting really is like a full time job - regular email checking, scanning countless advertisements, applying and so on. Will update on the progress soon.
After an agonising wait to see if the cricket would play with SO much rain yesterday, at 5:47pm the announcement was posted that the game would commence at 6:47pm, each team playing 22 overs. The ground was far from packed but enthusiasm was high as only the really committed turned out to see it. Aussie posted a fairly decent score, but even with a few key wickets dropped early on our chase was impressive. The row of aussies (and a stray South African supporting Australia... ??) in front of us quickly regretted their earlier mockery and fell quiet as the 4's piled up much to our delight.
Unfortunately the rain returned with only 6 overs to play, which was a massive dissapointment as the kiwis were easily on their way to victory with an average 10-12 runs an over when play was stopped. Would LOVE to go to the 20/20 in Sydney tomorrow but knowing the price of attending a sporting event now it may have to wait...
It was a brilliant event despite the weather, and further reinforcing the belief that it is, indeed, a small world, we ran into Rei kitted out in Bowler beige brigade gears outside the ground. Classic!
I was supposed to put in the consecutive posts about the road trip from Wellington right through to Ahipara, but we got too busy and now we are in Australia so I'll just give the highlights:
*Camping in Taupo - always pretty and totally love the jumping cushion
*Visiting with Nana and Grandad in Auckland
*Testing the new toll road between Auckland and Whangarei
*Passing my license test - finally! Special thanks to Grans cornies and stewed apple - Clarke kids you know the drill.
*Dinner, drinks and catching up with old friends and family in the rei
*Ahipara - 'nuff said
*Swimming at Waipu Cove
*Totally smooth flight to Brisbane
*Making $2 australian dollars on the internet kiosks - a sign of things to come...? Trip photos to follow.
So here we are, currently staying in Rosewood near Ipswich and heading to the Sunshine Coast today. It is hot - not that we weren't expecting it - but acclimatising is taking its sweet time. We watched the kiwis get beaten last night, and now have tickets to the game on Friday where hopefully we can take it home. Look out for us sporting the Bowler beige brigade digs.
The cabin we stay at in Charleston is so cute. It is SO quiet at the holiday camp, and the sunset is very pretty. The owners have a great kitchen facility with everything, and a large family sized dining table in the centre. We watch the news and some documentary about helping troubled teens.
Back on the road early and its a pretty straight shot through to Blenheim. We eat lunch at a cafe there and get on the road again for the 2pm ferry. The crossing is initially great, in the harbour with a glass of wine and the cool sea breeze, but the rapidly goes down hill as soon as we hit the open sea and I can't wait for it to be over.
We arrive in Wellington and head over to see Sarah and Hadleigh, where we will spend the next two nights. We make a poor attempt at attending the music in the gardens, and end up back at the apartment eating bad thai food and catching up.
The weather is perfect while we are in Welly. We take a drive around oriental parade to a wee cafe at Scorching Bay, catch up with friends, have coffee in the city with Had and Sarah, and eat out at a great Indian restaurant which consequently ends in a night on the town at various clubs.
We are very tempted to stay longer, we both love it there. But back on the road it is! Taupo next.
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